The Howard Bison staged a furious second half rally but fell just short in a 64-59 loss to the Morgan State Bears in a MEAC matchup Saturday at the Hill Fieldhouse.

The Bison (5-22 overall, 2-10 in the MEAC) appeared all but done when the Bears took a seemingly insurmountable 59-34 lead at the 9:39 mark of the second half. Morgan State (17-9 overall, 11-2 in the MEAC) combined some stifling defense and a sizzling fast break to keep Howard on its heels.

Then the Bison somehow woke up and rode the scoring of Eugene Myatt and Randy Hampton to reel off a 20-3 run and cut the deficit to 62-54 with 1:34 left on the clock. The run featured a rare four-point play by Myatt.

Following a Morgan State timeout, Jerrell Green was fouled and made one of two free throws. Curtis White then canned a 3-pointer to get within six at 63-57 with only 17 seconds remaining.

Morgan’s Reggie Holmes was fouled on the baseline, but missed both attempts. The Bison quickly got a layup from Hampton to cut the deficit to 63-59 with seven ticks left on the clock.

Jamar Smith was fouled and made one of two to close out the scoring and stifle the Bison’s attempted comeback.

The second half was one of Howard’s better efforts during the current seven-game slide.

The Bison overcame a dismal first half shooting performance (25 percent) to shoot 44 percent in the final stanza, including 50 percent from 3-point land and 74 percent from the charity stripe.

Myatt, who missed eight of his first 10 shots, hit 5-of-6 in the second half for a game-high 20 points. Hampton added 16 points, 10 coming after intermission.

The Bears, who are now alone in first place in the MEAC after Norfolk State’s loss to Coppin State, got a team-high 17 from Marquise Kately, 12 from Jamar Smith and 10 from Reggie Holmes off the bench. Boubacar Coly, one of the top rebounders and shot blockers in the nation, grabbed 14 caroms and was credited with 4 blocks.

On a down note, the Bears missed 20 of their 32 free throw attempts, including 14 misses in the second half.